Experienced Chicago personal injury lawyers have long argued in favor of allowing prejudgment interest to successful plaintiffs in Illinois personal injury actions. Successul plaintiffs in Illinois personal injury actions, including Chicago medical malpractice and Chicago wrongful death cases, are entitled to postjudgment interest if the case is appealed. Until recently, however the Illinois bar was divided on the issue of prejudgment interest.
In December 2008, the assembly of the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA), an organization representing over 35,000 lawyers in all sectors of the state bar, approved draft legislation that would require the payment of prejudgment interest to successful plainitffs in all civil litigation in which money damages are sought. This proposed ligislation is strongly apposed, not surprisingly, by the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel (IDC).
According to an ISBA statement describing the draft legislation, "a prejudgment interest statue would encourage quick evaluation and early settlement of civil cases," especially for insurance companies who adopt a stall and pay later approach. Further, this legislation recognizes that "the delay awaiting a money judgment is also a delay in the value of the judgmetn that is ultimately received." The ISBA noted that 16 other states have already enacted legislation providing for prejudgment interest.
Although this draft legislation is a step in the right direction for protecting the rights of injured plaintiffs, it does not go far enough. Notably, the designated interest rate is the "average, one-year constant maturity United States Treasury bill rate" of the year preceding the filing of the lawsuit plus two percentage points. Currently, the T-bill interest rate is zero.
This legislation is sure to be the subject of heated debate in the Illinois congress, and lawyers on both sides of the bar are keeping close watch of the outcome.
Matthew A. Passen is an experienced Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer with Passen Law Group. Mr. Passen concentrates in all areas of Illinois personal injury law, including truck accidents, auto accidents, wrongful death, brain injury, birth injury, construction accidents, and medical malpractice in the Chicago area.
Prior to joining Passen Law Group, Mr. Passen was an associate in the litigation department of Jenner & Block LLP.
Mr. Passen received his B.A. magna cum laude, Phi Bete Kappa, in Economics from the University of Michigan in 2002. Mr. Passen obtained his law degree, summa cum laude, from DePaul University College of Law in 2006, where he graduated Order of the Coif. During law school, Mr. Passen was as a member of the DePaul Law Review.
During the 2003-04 academic year, Mr. Passen clerked for the Honorable Ronald A. Guzman, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He also spent the following semester clerking at the United States Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois.
Mr. Passen is a member of the Illinois Bar. He is a member of the Chicago Bar Association, Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, Illinois State Bar Association, and the American Association for Justice. Mr. Passen also works with elementary teachers and students in Chicago-area public schools, as a volunteer in the Constitutional Rights Foundation of Chicago's "Lawyers in the Classroom" program.
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